​As strange as it sounds, one of the world’s best ball strikers, Collin Morikawa, who shot 68 on Thursday in the first round of the 2026 Open Championship, spent part of his preparation for Royal Birkdale hitting shots off a cart path in search of answers about turf interaction.It’s the sort of thing that sounds absurd, until you remember two important facts. First, Morikawa has won the Claret Jug before and knows what it takes to compete on links courses. Second, he thinks about his equipment with the same precision that he uses to carve shots around the course.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis week at Royal Birkdale, the fairways are brown, baked out, and firm, with tight turf that behaves much differently than the softer conditions players encounter most weeks in the United States. When the ground gets hard, the sole of an iron becomes every bit as important as the grooves on its face.1 / 5Matthew Baldwin tees off on the first hole on day one of the The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 16, 2026 in Southport, England.(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)That reality sent Morikawa and TaylorMade’s tour staff down an unusual path.Normally, Morikawa would have spent last week at the Genesis Scottish Open in preparation for this week’s event, but he skipped that event this year. Instead, TaylorMade shipped multiple sets of irons to his house in Last Vegas so he could determine which configuration would perform best on ultra-hard links turf.The TaylorMade P·7MC irons that are in Collin Morikawa’s bag this week at Royal Birkdale.One option was a customized set of P·7CB irons featuring tweaks to the leading edge and sole geometry. The other was a set of P·7MC irons, which have one of the narrowest soles in TaylorMade’s lineup. For golfers who strike the ball as consistently as Morikawa, and who don’t need the forgiveness that extra bounce can offer, a narrower sole can help the club glide through firm turf with less resistance.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat is where the cart path entered the story.Rather than relying solely on feel off the grass on the range at home, Morikawa used the concrete cart path as a giant testing surface. By hitting shots on the pavement, he could see scratches in the sole where it made contact. The marks effectively mapped how different sole grinds, relief areas and leading edges would interact with the ground at Royal Birkdale.The scratch marks and scraps on the sole of Collin Morikawa’s irons show how the bottom of the club interacted with the cart path, simulating the ultra-hard turf players are contending with at Royal Birkdale.Yes, this is one of the advantages of getting your clubs for free. And yes, it sounds like something a golfer would dream up after watching too many YouTube club-fitting videos. That said, there is real science behind it. Elite players don’t just fit clubs based on launch angle and spin rates. At the highest level, they are often fitting for how th